Ishii, SaraNeihardt, J.C.2021-03-192021-03-192021https://hdl.handle.net/11274/12737Creative Arts and Research SymposiumCreative Arts and Research SymposiumMy performance piece entitled WOMB is informed by the desire to break through the surface and explore skin as a permeable barrier. In queer culture, there is a strong purpose, and often motive, to expose oneself. I aim to express this need to be bare and vulnerable. My work references the writings of Leslie Fienberg, whose prose focuses on the experience of trans-masculinity and the need to convey and exist in both the masculine and feminine spheres. In my performance, I express fear and struggle. The pace of movement portrays the anxiety experienced by “coming out.” Once I break free from the womb, or normativity, I am cold and exposed. By expressing gender as birth, I am able to make the connection to the infantile, new beginnings, and the opportunity for brand new growth. By being laid bare, the viewers are able to participate in my shared expression, and the personal becomes plural.en-USPresentation